1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to an exercise vest and, more particularly, to a weighted training vest adapted for wearing during physical activities such as walking or hiking by persons interested in increasing their strength and endurance.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common for athletes interested in developing greater strength, muscle tone or endurance to carry additional weight on their body in one manner or other. For example, some athletes carry additional weight in the form of dumbbells while walking, jogging or doing aerobics; others wear weights around their wrists, ankles or waist at all times or during specific physical activities.
Typically, the relative number of calories burnt and the degree of muscle strengthening that occurs during a physical activity depends on the resistance that muscles have to overcome. Carrying added weight imposes greater resistance upon the leg muscles, as well as other muscles involved in a physical activity, thus strengthening them. Furthermore, to overcome the additional resistance exerted by the weights, more calories need to be burned to allow the muscles to work harder. Therefore, the added resistance also helps a person to burn more calories and loose body fat. Increased muscle strength and less body fat is a sign of greater fitness and physical well being.
Conventional methods of weight training include confined movements that work isolated groups of muscles. This can possibly result in an imbalance in muscle strength and can increase the chance of injury. For a balanced increase in muscle strength, it is preferred that the strengthening is accomplished by adding weight to a person's body while exercising in a natural manner. Further, it is desirable for the weight to be evenly distributed about the body and gradually added in variable, progressive and controlled increments. Thus, a training device is needed that can help strengthen all muscles involved in walking, or hiking, in a naturally balanced and controlled manner.
While weighted training vests have, in the past, been used to impose increased muscle resistance above the waist, such vests have suffered from several deficiencies. For example, the weights carried in the prior art vests have the tendency to bounce around, constituting a source of discomfort to the wearer. Furthermore, they fail to provide a means for incrementally increasing the carried weight that distributes the weight evenly and uniformly about the wearer's body. The prior art training vests can become uncomfortably heavier on one side or the other, thereby throwing off the wearer's balance, rhythm and concentration. An additional shortcoming of some conventional vests is that vigorous movement by the wearer causes the weights to shift position or even fall out of the vest. Further, most prior art training vests fail to include additional compartments that allow the wearer to carry equipment other than the weights.
Thus, an improved training vest is needed that can comfortably and safely hold a variable number of weights and other equipment in a fixed position relative to the wearer's body, such that the total weight of the vest is evenly distributed around the body of the wearer, and so that weight can be incrementally added or removed as needed.